Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films tomorrow, Thursday, July 21:
WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY
Director:
Joe Hunting
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
True/False, CPH:DOX, Maryland
About:
Filmed entirely inside the world of VR, this vérité documentary captures the excitement and surprising intimacy of a burgeoning cultural movement, demonstrating the power of online connection in an isolated world.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
Coming to DVD in re-release today, Tuesday, July 19:
THE SILVER SCREEN: COLOR ME LAVENDER
Director:
Mark Rappaport
World Premiere:
Locarno 1997
Select Festivals:
NewFest, Chicago Reeling
About:
An examination of the representation of homosexuality in Golden Age Hollywood cinema.
The film screened at NewFest, for which our program notes read:
If you thought you’d seen it all in THE CELLULOID CLOSET, think again! In this latest installment of queer film history, Mark Rappaport, the acclaimed director of ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES, enlists the talents of FRASIER co-star Dan Butler to take you on an ingenious and highly entertaining journey through the golden years of classic Hollywood cinema, highlighting the continual presence of some extremely queer characters on the silver screen. Through the skillful dissection of film clips, Rappaport offers astute and persuasive readings of particular male star personae, including Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Cary Grant, Jerry Lewis, and Clifton Webb, to demonstrate how thoroughly ambiguous Hollywood masculinity really was.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Hulu tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19:
AFTERSHOCK
Director:
Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee
World Premiere:
Sundance 2022
Select Festivals:
BlackStar, Full Frame, Hot Docs, DC/Dox, SXSW, Martha’s Vineyard African American, BAMcinemaFest, Essence Fest, American Black
About:
Following the preventable deaths of their partners due to childbirth complications, two bereaved fathers galvanize activists, birth-workers, and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, July 18:
MANZANAR, DIVERTED: WHEN WATER BECOMES DUST
Director:
Ann Kaneko
World Premiere:
Bog Sky Doc 2021
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, CAAMFest, DOXA, BlackStar, Portland, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, Harlem, Toronto Reel Asian, Martha’s Vineyard, San Diego Asian, Hawaii
About:
Native Americans, Japanese-American WWII incarcerees, and environmentalists form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from Los Angeles.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 15:
FROM WHERE THEY STOOD
Director:
Christophe Cognet
World Premiere:
Berlin 2021
Select Festivals:
Jihlava, Thessaloniki Doc, FID Marseille, Jerusalem, Indielisboa, Open City Doc
About:
A handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. In the vestiges of the camps, director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 15:
GABBY GIFFORDS WON’T BACK DOWN
Director:
Julie Cohen, Betsy West
World Premiere:
SXSW 2022
Select Festivals:
Minneapolis-St Paul
About:
A gunman ended her skyrocketing political career, but didn’t stop Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Film Forum tomorrow, Friday, July 15:
THE LAST MOVIE STARS
Director:
Ethan Hawke
World Premiere:
SXSW 2022
Select Festivals:
Cannes
About:
An epic 6-chapter film chronicling Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s iconic careers and decades-long partnership.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 15:
MARX CAN WAIT
Director:
Marco Bellocchio
World Premiere:
Cannes 2021
Select Festivals:
New York, Busan, BFI London, Taipei Golden Horse, Vienna, IDFA, BAFICI
About:
In his most achingly personal film to date, the legendary Italian filmmaker uses the occasion of a family reunion to excavate and discuss a traumatic event: the suicide of his twin brother Camillo.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week:
MUSEUM TOWN
Director:
Jennifer Trainer
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Sarasota, Berkshire, Provincetown, Aspen, Woodstock, GlobeDocs, Hamptons
About:
An institutional history and portrait of a contemporary arts center.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
New to VOD this week:
FAIR PLAY
Director:
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
World Premiere:
theatrical release (July 2022)
About:
A deep look at domestic inequity, making visible the invisible care work historically held by women, and inspiring a more balanced and equitable future.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 